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The UN's health agency pleaded Friday for thousands of people in desperate need of medical care to be allowed to leave Gaza, in what it said would be a "game-changer".The World Health Organisation has supported the medical evacuation of nearly 7,800 patients out of the Gaza Strip since the war with Israel began two years ago -- and estimates there are 15,000 people currently needing treatment outside the Palestinian territory.But a US-brokered ceasefire that came into effect on October 10 has not sped up the process -- the WHO has been able to evacuate only 41 critical patients since then.Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO's representative in the Palestinian territories, called for all crossings out of Gaza into Israel and Egypt to be opened up during the ceasefire -- not only for the entry of aid but for medical evacuations too."All medical corridors need to be opened," he said, particularly to hospitals in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as happened routinely before the war."It is vital and is the most cost-effective route. If that route opened, it would really be a... game-changer."Speaking via video link from Jerusalem, he told journalists in Geneva that two evacuations were planned for next week, but he wanted them every day and said the WHO was ready to take "a minimum of 50 patients per day".At the current rate, he said evacuating the 15,000 people needing treatment -- including 4,000 children -- would drag on for a decade or so.The WHO says more than 700 people have died waiting for medical evacuation since the war began.The UN health agency has called for more countries to step up and accept Gazan patients. While over 20 countries have taken patients, only a handful have done so in large numbers.Peeperkorn said only a fraction of Gaza's health system remained in service -- just 14 of 36 hospitals are even partially functional for a population topping two million.

Philippine authorities announced the evacuation of more than 22,000 people on Luzon Island due to Tropical Storm Ramil, which brought heavy rains and strong winds across the southern and central parts of the island. The Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported that 22,311 people were evacuated from Calabarzon and Bicol, where local governments implemented preemptive measures before Ramil made landfall. The storm also disrupted transportation operations across the country. At least 39 seaports were damaged, stranding 3,242 passengers, 1,050 cargo vessels, and six ships. Approximately 20 storms or typhoons hit or approach the Philippines each year. The country's poorest regions are typically the most vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters.

A violent explosion occurred Tuesday morning in the town of Castel d'Azzano in Verona province, northern Italy, inside a rural house, killing three members of the Carabinieri security forces and wounding 13 other police and firefighter personnel while they were carrying out a forced evacuation of the house. Italy's ANSA news agency reported that two siblings, a man and a woman in their 60s, were arrested by security forces, while a third sibling remains at large. According to preliminary investigations, police were in the process of executing an evacuation order for the three siblings' home, following several previous failed attempts. Gas cylinders exploded inside the building as soon as the door was opened, causing the two-story house to collapse and a massive fire to break out, completely consuming its interior. For his part, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi described the incident as "a tragic loss," in which the loss of the three Carabinieri officers "honored the uniform to the ultimate sacrifice." Firefighters and ambulance crews are still working at the explosion site, while authorities continue to investigate to determine the responsibilities and exact circumstances of the incident, which has been described as the most violent in recent years in the Veneto region of northern Italy.